vampires and decide it’s their civic duty to go on a killing spree.”
The one human killed so far had been the primary food source for his vampire lover, so the hunter hadn’t been too far off the mark. It was the only mistake he had made so far, if it was one. They might have viewed the human as guilty by association.
The problem with those statistics being, they were ninety percent sure this killer was also a vampire.
To his knowledge, no vampire had ever gone on a killing spree of this magnitude against its own kind.
“That would explain why they’re sticking to freshies.” She frowned. “They’re easier to identify and simpler to kill.”
“Ron was the link to Angelo.” Boaz exhaled. “That’s how the killer found Angelo, why they risked it.”
A cautious hunter was rarer still, and even more dangerous. Most humans made mistakes identifying the monsters among them and got caught early on. This one had been operating for months, all across the country.
“Jaden was the first vampire killed in the area.” She thought it through. “He was one of Ron’s lovers, so that’s our link.”
The killer must have asked Jaden for names, and Jaden gave up Ron, who then fingered Angelo.
“We need to find out where Jaden was from originally,” Boaz said. “There’s got to be a link between him and the previous victim from Savannah.”
Jaden might have been the first in the area, but they tended to happen in clusters. There must be a reason the killer left Savannah to come here. They still had no concrete evidence pointing toward why he had hit Savannah after a stent in Maine, but Boaz would find it. No matter how long it took him.
“I’ll get Abernathy on it.” He paused. “I caught him flirting with a woman at the roadblock earlier. I couldn’t tell if he had the hots for the driver or for the car. Any idea who was behind the wheel?”
“The woman who reported Ron’s murder, I think. I didn’t get close enough to ID her, but I heard talk a clan master bought his top earner a new ride, so it fits.” She glanced toward the flashing lights. “She’s a bounty hunter, a vampire. She was tracking him for a payday when she stumbled across his corpse. Odds are good she was out searching for Angelo tonight when Abernathy put a kink in her plans. His clan was desperate to locate him before he did something foolish.”
“Tracking this killer could make her a target.”
“With a job like hers?” Honey scoffed. “She can protect herself.”
The brutal tableau before him burned in his mind’s eye. “I bet Angelo thought the same thing.”
Waving the cleaners in, Boaz tipped his chin to Honey then set out for his bike to head back to the Whitaker place for the day. They would have reports ready for him to read at dusk, along with fingerprints to compare to the previous crime scenes.
Eight
Cass woke me up with one of her favorite stalking games. She let herself into my room, climbed onto my twin bed, and straddled my hips. She leaned down, hands cuffing my wrists, and raked her fangs across my juicy carotid while purring deep in her throat.
And then she hissed when I flipped her off me, onto the floor. She landed nimbly, like a cat.
The self-defense classes were her idea. Really, she only had herself to blame.
Not bothering to open my eyes, I murmured, “Not today, Satan.”
“You suck.”
“But you don’t.” A smile tickled the edge of my mouth. “Not on me.”
“I wouldn’t have bitten you.” She hesitated. “Hard.”
“I’ve been bitten by vampires.” I cracked an eye to glare at her. “It’s always hard, and it always hurts.” I flashed my forearm, which was crisscrossed with white lines, a favorite spot of theirs. “It usually scars too.”
“Bites don’t count when they happen in the heat of battle.” She pouted. “I could make it good for you.”
“Mm-hmm.” I yawned, blowing morning breath in her face when she got too close. “Keep your fangs to yourself, missy.”
A cough moved through her chest, and she wrinkled her nose. “You’re no fun.”
“So you tell me. Like every day.”
“Friends are supposed to tell friends when they’re stuck in a rut.”
“Friends are also not supposed to eat friends. Friends are not food.”
Red lips curving in a sensual grin, she leaned closer. “I—”
“Nope.” I tapped the end of her nose. “Bad vampire.”
Cass dialed up the charm. “But—”
“Bad.” I tapped her again. “Vampire.”
Growling, she bared her teeth at me and rose